I wanted to share an update, and it’s a hard one.

My dog Crooked passed away recently. He was my friend for nearly ten years and he stayed beside me through the hardest stretch of my life. When everything else collapsed — my home, my work, and the stability I had built — Crooked was still there every day.

Losing him has been incredibly painful. But it also forced me to confront something I hadn’t really admitted to myself before.

For years I’ve been telling myself that life would begin again once this fight was finished.

Crooked’s passing put that into perspective. Life doesn’t wait for the perfect moment. You cannot put everything on hold while waiting for justice or closure.

So I’m trying to move forward while the fight continues.

For those who are new to this story, what I’ve been dealing with began as a local political conflict that spiraled into something much larger. I was publicly smeared and pulled into years of litigation involving Monterey County. Over time the consequences were devastating. I lost my career, my housing, and have accumulated more than $270,000 in debt trying to defend myself and pursue accountability.

Along the way I was diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety after threats I received in 2021, and later with recurrent major depression. Those are real things that affect how a person thinks and functions day to day. Writing, organizing legal material, and even concentrating can take far longer than they once did.

But I’m still here.

One reason I’ve continued is because of something that became clear as this unfolded. What happened in my case may be local, but the principle behind it is much larger.

The events I’ve been documenting involve actions by local government that I believe crossed serious lines, including the use of law enforcement to interfere with an election and the use of public funds to defend those actions.

Those kinds of issues are not just local problems. They raise a national question: how do we create accountability when public institutions fail?

Local government is often the first line of defense for democracy. When things go wrong at that level, accountability usually depends on ordinary people being willing to document what happened and insist that the truth be part of the public record.

I never planned to be in that position. I originally came to the public simply asking for help surviving the damage that had already been done to my life.

But after everything I’ve seen, it’s hard to imagine turning my back on it.

I know this story sometimes feels like it goes in circles. Long fights for accountability rarely move in straight lines. Sometimes they look like circles, but over time those circles become a spiral that keeps tightening around the truth.

Crooked was with me through all of it. In his own quiet way he reminded me every day to keep going.

His passing also reminded me that I cannot keep putting life on hold while this continues.

So here is the simple plan I’m trying to make possible.

I want to buy a used minivan and a reliable laptop and slowly make my way back across the country to New Jersey while my attorney continues working on the legal side of things. Nothing glamorous. Just the ability to move, write, document what happened, and begin rebuilding a life again.

To make that possible I’m trying to raise $25,000. The funds would go toward a used vehicle, a laptop, travel and basic living expenses during the transition, and a portion of ongoing legal expenses so I can continue pursuing accountability while rebuilding some stability.

If you’re able to contribute, it truly helps. And if you can’t donate, sharing this campaign makes a real difference.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me through these years. Your support has helped me keep going through the hardest chapter of my life.

I’m still here. I’m still documenting the truth. And now I’m trying to start moving forward again.